a. To validate a new diagnostic test for Duchenne (DMD) and Becker's (BMD) muscular dystrophy. A large bank of documented human biopsies will be established. We will collaborate closely with the world experts who discovered the marker, dystrophin, which is the product of the muscular dystrophy gene. Using their reagents and methods will assay 1000 BMD/DMD biopsy samples and 1000 controls from 20 neuromuscular diseases for the diagnostic marker. b. If validated, this data will be used in FDA submissions for approval for the use in our commercial Reference Laboratory, which is dedicated to providing genetic screening services using protein- based diagnostics. This approach will be used for further work on carrier and prenatal testing, and for other genetic diseases where the defective genes have been cloned. Unlike other gene-based tests, which require multiple family samples, and predicts the probability of the disease, this test would provide a definitive yes/no on a single patient sample